New US move to push Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel

Informed sources said that Jared Kushner, the senior adviser and son-in-law of the US President Donald Trump, will visit Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman in early September to persuade Gulf leaders to normalise relations with Israel, as the UAE did.

Axios quoted Israeli and Arab sources as saying that Kushner will, in the first week of September, tour the Middle East, accompanied by the White House representative to international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz.

The tour will start with a visit to Jerusalem and then the UAE with the aim of inspecting the implementation of the US mediated agreement to normalise relations between the two parties.

According to the news website, “Officials familiar with the planned tour,” said that “Kushner will attempt during the talks he will hold with some leaders in the region to urge more Arab countries to follow the example of the UAE and move forward towards full normalisation of relations with Israel.”

READ: Saudi hails UAE-Israel normalisation deal

Axios added that the US delegation, which is expected to include National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and the State Department Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, will also visit Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

Later, Trump announced that he saw the possibility of Saudi Arabia concluding a similar agreement with Israel, while sources said that the U.S president wanted to hold an official ceremony in September in the courtyard of the White House to sign the Emirati-Israeli agreement.

On 13 August, US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between the UAE and Israel brokered by Washington.

Abu Dhabi said the deal was an effort to stave off Tel Aviv’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, however, opponents believe normalisation efforts have been in the offing for many years as Israeli officials have made official visits to the UAE and attended conferences in the country which had no diplomatic or other ties with the occupation state.

Netanyahu repeated last week that annexation is not off the table, but has simply been delayed.

READ: Kushner says Kuwait’s support for Palestinians not ‘very constructive’